Wednesday 29 February 2012

"Man skal nevne alle ting med sitt rette navn, og tørr man ikke det i virkeligheten, skal man kunne gjøre det i eventyret." Sitat fra H. C. Andersen.
Eventyr har alltid betydd mye for oss. I eventyret kan vi søke inn i en annen verden, samtidig som vi internaliserer den gode moralen som ligger i eventyrene. Et viktig virkemiddel i sosialisering og undervisning

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Snow

Folding the earth in its mantle
Pure and undefiled,
Soft in its own clear whiteness
As the cheek of an innocent child,
The snow o'er the world is falling,
It floats upon the air,
Silent, yet ever restless,
As a child's hands crossed in prayer.

This world is a myst'ry of sorrow,
And dark with sin and woe;
Over its toil and sadness
Thy mantle of mercy throw.
Fold us about, protect us
In Thy garment, spotless white,
As the snow in its silent falling
Is shrouding the earth tonight.

by: Edith Willis Linn Forbes (1865-1945)

Sunday 19 February 2012

The trap of having a soul

I looked at the horizon, saw the distance sea and tried to keep looking forward because I couln't dare to look back. Behind me laid the memories, small pieces of the story of a life. In my soul there is an ocean where words in book seem to disappear, ink burring as they sink into the depths.

A cold breeze hit my skin and I felt the emptiness around me. There was the abyss.

I took a deep breath and I jumped, but not to fall into the deep but to push myself onwards in this swirl, this typhoon that is living in hope that past stays in history and the future remains a mystery. The present will always be a gift.

(Inspired by Critina Letrán http://ricon-desastre.blogspot.com/)

Monday 13 February 2012

water IS life

Imagine yourself in a beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, of beaches and sea, of places where everything seems to show where heaven meets the earth. Hear the sounds of leafs, of the wind blowing the sand or the trees, the sound of the waves crashing and of the rivers' flow. Somehow you feel at peace and you feel grateful for being part of this planet, of this land, of everything that surrounds you in that moment. You feel humble as you see the power of nature, and that is because nature does not need people to be creative. People however, need nature for creative inspiration, for food, for supplies that we aren't able to get anywhere else.
For a while now I have been hearing about the next world crisis, the next world war, that will not be around oil or gas, but water instead. Water, our most valuable asset, will be our ultimate destruction if we loose it.
Living in cold areas, occasionally the pipes freeze and you have no water for cleaning, cooking, showering, or any of our daily chores. Indeed, we are lucky. Not everyone has the privilege to have cleaning routines or fancy ways of cooking.
Today I saw a documentary that highlighted these issues. People are forced to live under a monopoly of interests around water, where they are clearly the victims and so are their following generations. Children and their parents are forced to choose between washing their clothes, cooking, or washing themselves so that they are able to work properly and stay away from social stigmas.
Ancient traditions required the dead to be thrown into the rivers as well as village discharges. The notion that water can recycle has been incorporated in people's minds and that knowledge has passed through generations, and it has blown out of proportion as the world's population keeps increasing. Water can only take so much, and after a threshold value of contamination it actually becomes polluted and harmful for human beings, animals, and plants.
Think twice before leaving your tap open; re-use water for watering the plans (mine get cold tea!) and think of ways to help other manage their own water supply.
Remember: No water, no life.